This 22^nd of October is a very important day for classical music in Budapest. On Franz Liszt’s 202^nd birthday, the Liszt Academy reopens the concert centre of this unique music university which provides lessons in any possible music branch to its students and is also largely cooperating with foreign institutions. This explains the presence, at this opening day, of the rectors of music universities from all over Europe, Russia and Japan.

At the Liszt Academy teaching and concert giving are closely connected. Among the Academy’s students were and are names that count among the most renowned in the musical world, such as Bela Bartok, Zoltan Kodaly, Georg Solti, Fritz Reiner, Eugene Ormandy, György Cziffra and many more. No wonder that the minister Zoltan Balog said at the press conference this morning: “Hungary is a real super power in the musical world”.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Liszt Academy which was founded 138 years ago and the music palace’s concert halls that were opened in 1902, meld into a double entity on this October 22^nd. The new concert organising branch is directed by Andras Csonka and will provide a full concert programme during the entire music season. With the newly renovated hall Budapest’s total seat capacity for concerts and opera comes close to 8.000.

The Art Nouveau building has been refurbished as from 2011 on according to the highest standards. Chief engineer Gergely Lakatos says: “Despite its mass, Budapest’s first reinforced concrete public building is, from a structural aspect, a surprisingly delicate creation; its designer did not give it a huge safety margin and yet we have not found a single instance of decline in its state that can be traced back to its structural design.”

The Chamber Hall, today renamed ‘Georg Solti Chamber Hall’, suffered most from the addition of outdated materials and use of unprofessional solutions, with the damage hampering its functionality.

It has been beautifully redecorated on the basis of existing old photos. It got again an orchestra pit and a modern stage machinery, so that the opera department of the Academy can produce operas to be presented to the audience.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the main concert hall, the walls, repainted in the last century, presumably for ideological reasons, have regained their original ornamentation thanks to in-depth research work on the part of restorers. The Grand Hall, in all its glorious pomp, has become a real sanctuary of Apollo. Remaining faithful to solutions that were originally applied, the painters and restorers have used genuine gold leaf in the restored outer areas, while in the interiors the appearance of gilding has been achieved through a so-called high copper content beaten metal process. The tapestries and drapery are fashioned to recall the opulence of 1907.

And behind all this splendour, this hall has a high quality technical area with the most modern stage and recording equipment, an HD camera system and an appropriate air conditioning.

14 millions Euros have been invested, with 10 % coming from the Hungarian State, the rest from the European Union and private sponsors.

Tonight, a Gala concert broadcast live on the Hungarian Radio and the Television, will be the highlight of the Grand Opening.